BTW: if anyone finds James Harden, word is Sam Presti is offering a handsome reward, as he has been missing for two weeks.

Watching Russ last night reminded me of watching LBJ in Cleveland... try to take someone off the dribble and get answered with three defenders crashing out. And when KD is the only one converting anything thrown his way (THANKS HARDEN), uhg.

Also worth noting, the Thunder were one of the best 3 shooting teams all year up until this series, where they are somewhere around 20% from deep (and spare the Miami speed shit, beyond Seflosha getting blocked in the corner a ton of those looks were wide the fuck open) and also had the best defense in the league.

Perk probably earned himself an amnesty though, so there is that.

Also worth noting, Brooks rotations last night were the worst I have ever seen in a playoff game. Perk should have been in the locker room, let alone on the bench... yet he was playing....... constantly.

This probably is easier for me since you could count the number of minutes of NBA basketball I watched this year on a fingerless hand, but it will probably be a relief that whats-his-name got his ring.

Now I can stop hearing about the annoying fuck every 10 seconds from any and every sports media source.

Now that he's no longer a story, they'll move onto something else. Which will enable me to better ignore his existence, since he's unworthy of undying hatred.

Of course, careful what I wish for... now that the NBA is done, it's back to Tebow-mania again. Ye gods...

e0y and Woj nailed it. After all these years, James finally parks himself in the post and the Heat suddenly play their best offense in the last two years. It only took him taking a dive off of the pinnacle of his own hubris to do so. I'm pretty sure I've read a story like that in a book somewhere.

I'm not sure if we could've done this in 2009 though. Ferry and Brown had sold out to making LeIso work at that point. I'm more curious as to how it would've worked before Hughes fell apart.

"The fucking Who...... If I want to watch old people run around ill go set fire to a nursing home." - CDT

Wade is in decline, though still capable of a game or three for the ages when called upon and still a force. The rest of that team is the LBJ Cavs except for Bosh.

LBJ at another level and the Big 1 3/4 won that title. Christ, if you're going to base an argument on Haslem being better than AV (healthier? OK) and then talk about the points Chalmers and Wade scored while not mentioning they bought their shots at Sam's Club discounts and gave up more than they inefficiently scored to Westbrook alone. have at it.

LBJ took the step. Bosh opened floor. A couple old men knocked down shots then fell to the floor on every defensive possession AND got more than 50% of those calls.

Hats off to James for becoming what he always should have/could have been. Laughter at those who think it was much more than that.

MJ - NBA career started at age 21. (LBJ 18)MJ - 1st MVP in season 3. (LBJ season 6)

LBJ to MJ comparisons are like comparing foot massages to having sex, beyond dumb anymore.

Not if it conveniently fits your agenda.

And yeah.... we all do it.

Duh - Point was made of being critical of LBJ because it took him so long.

So I compared his path to the GOAT. And now its all absurd it took GOAT a long time to to win it all with Pip & the Jordanaires but LBJ gets dismisssed because we dont like him and we're off orginal point.

MJ - NBA career started at age 21. (LBJ 18)MJ - 1st MVP in season 3. (LBJ season 6)

LBJ to MJ comparisons are like comparing foot massages to having sex, beyond dumb anymore.

Not if it conveniently fits your agenda.

And yeah.... we all do it.

Duh - Point was made of being critical of LBJ because it took him so long.

So I compared his path to the GOAT. And now its all absurd it took GOAT a long time to to win it all with Pip & the Jordanaires but LBJ gets dismisssed because we dont like him and we're off orginal point.

OK.

I don't like him and it DID take him longer and it took him longer because, unlike Jordan and others, he assumed it would be easy because everything else had been easy. He didn't work for it in terms of expanding his game and going to the rim like he now does.

I didn't think he was capable of changing. He always had the ability and the body but I assumed his hubris, pride and attitude were fatal flaws.

He showed otherwise and was brilliant. That's that next step. And now that he's at an even higher level people should be afraid of "not one, not two..."

I have even more respect for his game given DWade's clear decline and the cast of stiffs around him. I'll say this for The Others, though: at least one per night stepped up when they needed someone to step up. I think Bosh being back was a huge key getting Battier and Miller looks and opening the lane for Chalmers, et al. And Spo was not stupid in making sure they utilized it.

I'll give credit where it's due. I didn't think James or that team could answer the bell. And they looked old and slow in Game 1. Then they kicked it in and it was over.

They earned it and they deserved it. And while I still have zero respect for James personally I have a new level of respect for the guy as a player.

Had he realized who he was a year earlier they could be headed toward three-peat.

Peeker - let's be clear here. LBJ never developed shit on the blocks. He drove the ball. He did thet here too. It's just easier to do when you arent't the only offesnive threat becasue Larry Hughes is stoned or out 8 games for his terminally ill brother's funeral day Mo can't shoot outside of the 82 RS and there's no other decent players.

I'm not going to congratulate the guy. But he was indeed successful, and finally did what everyone thought he was going to do. It was earned.

But, that said. The narrative is bullshit.

He's still a giant arrogant self-centered walking douche, and will be for the longest time.

Cleveland still has in my mind, every right to be bitter at the guy until we win a title of our own. When that happens, it won't matter.

I'll go back and say it once again. How tragic is it, that the one guy who could have grown up and been the hero for this city and finally led us to the promised land, didn't give a shit about the narrative, nor grew up rooting for any of the teams within the area.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

All Bets Are Off ‏@ABAOSTOUnless I’m misremembering … I think the Cavs sent Redd & Ray Allen a DVD as their recruiting campaign that year from LBJ

We all know that the guy tried to recruit Trevor Ariza and a few others, and when it came right back to it, they never came due to his lack of commitment to the franchise.

He didn't care. If he did, he wouldn't have bailed, and flirted with every possibility out there when he was here.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

jb wrote:Peeker - let's be clear here. LBJ never developed shit on the blocks. He drove the ball. He did thet here too. It's just easier to do when you arent't the only offesnive threat becasue Larry Hughes is stoned or out 8 games for his terminally ill brother's funeral day Mo can't shoot outside of the 82 RS and there's no other decent players.

You can isolate James's shots here. He drove nowhere near as much here JB. And he routinely dribbled out the clock here before initiating his "offense" which all too often consisted of hero jumpers and threes. I didn't go back and get those charts but you can look at them and find them.

This entire season he took fewer 3's per game than any other season (per game, not just due to strike). He shot his highest %. Is it part and parcel to more talent around him? To a degree. Is it also because he consciously made an effort to take the ball and to pin down smaller guys on the blocks? To a degree.

Far less settling, far more movement, far better use of his body regarding shot selection.

He grew up, he matured, he became self-actualized on the court. It's unfair to him to say it was a product of a dying Dwyane Wade and a solid Chris Bosh. In part, yes. But no way you an tell me he didn't go about things differently because he realized he had to.

Nothing has changed. He's obviously very talented, which means nothing to me if he's not playing on my team. He's also still a douchebag that deserves no personal respect whom I would not mourn if he was eaten by a bear. He's just got more jewelry now, that's all.

But like I've said before, he's hardly the only douchebag in pro sports, so now that the whole Cleveland-vs-LeBron's-Championship-Hopes angle is dead, there's really nothing that separates him from the plethora of other douchebags that litter the league.

It's the freakin' national sports media I hope contracts Super Cancer at this point.

MJ - NBA career started at age 21. (LBJ 18)MJ - 1st MVP in season 3. (LBJ season 6)

LBJ to MJ comparisons are like comparing foot massages to having sex, beyond dumb anymore.

Not if it conveniently fits your agenda.

And yeah.... we all do it.

Duh - Point was made of being critical of LBJ because it took him so long.

So I compared his path to the GOAT. And now its all absurd it took GOAT a long time to to win it all with Pip & the Jordanaires but LBJ gets dismisssed because we dont like him and we're off orginal point.

OK.

My comment wasn't about that it took so long for him to win, just that it took so long for him to realize that he had to make necessary changes to be able to win. Changes that we in Cleveland had been pleading with him to make for at least the last 3 years he was a Cav, after all the ooh's and aah's wore off the LeIso gameplan.

jb wrote:Peeker - let's be clear here. LBJ never developed shit on the blocks. He drove the ball. He did thet here too. It's just easier to do when you arent't the only offesnive threat becasue Larry Hughes is stoned or out 8 games for his terminally ill brother's funeral day Mo can't shoot outside of the 82 RS and there's no other decent players.

You can isolate James's shots here. He drove nowhere near as much here JB. And he routinely dribbled out the clock here before initiating his "offense" which all too often consisted of hero jumpers and threes. I didn't go back and get those charts but you can look at them and find them.

This entire season he took fewer 3's per game than any other season (per game, not just due to strike). He shot his highest %. Is it part and parcel to more talent around him? To a degree. Is it also because he consciously made an effort to take the ball and to pin down smaller guys on the blocks? To a degree.

Far less settling, far more movement, far better use of his body regarding shot selection.

He grew up, he matured, he became self-actualized on the court. It's unfair to him to say it was a product of a dying Dwyane Wade and a solid Chris Bosh. In part, yes. But no way you an tell me he didn't go about things differently because he realized he had to.

YMMV

Yep, and he was abusing Harden on the block last night, not sure what game JB watched.

So often with LBJ it is less about running a skyhook from the block and more so about getting position in the heart of the defense, where his athleticism forces a help defender pay immense attention to him and his passing let's him run the entire offense inside out. His drives didn't start working until he started also abusing Harden in terms of getting position in the heart of the OKC Defense.

For fuck's sake, the guy himself admitted he is playing a different style than even last year.

The idea of "Redemption" for someone like the guy wearing no. 6 is laughable. He brought a good portion of the criticism upon himself with some of his actions. Redeemed for being a choke artist? You could argue that. But it hardly exempts from criticism from 2010 playoffs, the whole decision fiasco or any other number of things.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

I seriously hope you never have an instance where you realize you are a complete and utter failure SSS, do some self introspection, accept blame for being an immature asshole and then conquer your failures.

Because if that isn't the exact definition of redemption, well, fuck me sideways.

And it's not that I don't feel these things, but I'm definitely exaggerating them for effect. Of course I want to win, but if we don't, it's not the end of the world. And of course I want Lebron to lose, he's a spoiled, petulant, traitorous dick. But I won't lose any sleep over him taking the easy road to that ring. Who gives a shit? It's a game.

So I'm sorry that I can't muster up more true vitriol for everyone. And right now I can't even fake it. But know that I am not happy about the Heat's championship. They don't deserve it. Their "fans" don't deserve it. The officiating was bad, but was not the sole reason they won.

They were the better team. I've never argued that they were not. That's never been the point. I've never said that Lebron James wasn't an amazing basketball player. I've just said that his character simply doesn't align with his talent. He's a spoiled child with awful priorities. And sadly, we helped to create him by stroking him off and ignoring his flaws. Because we wanted a winner so badly.

And he was ours for a while, so we looked the other way when he said and did dumb shit. So did the our team's owner and the press. They treated him with kid gloves for fear of upsetting him. We helped to make this tragedy. And following the traditional Shakespearean guidelines, you can't have a tragedy without a good tragic ending. So now we have it and it's done.

And the sun still rose in the East this morning. And kids are still playing outside. And I just grilled some chicken for lunch and opened a Corona. Life goes on.

So let's all just take the hit and move past it, because that's what we do here. And that's what makes us such a great fucking town.

Now let's talk about the draft. Who do you guys like?

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

e0y2e3 wrote:I seriously hope you never have an instance where you realize you are a complete and utter failure SSS, do some self introspection, accept blame for being an immature asshole and then conquer your failures.

Because if that isn't the exact definition of redemption, well, fuck me sideways.

One would have to assume that's what LBJ did. Which maybe he did. I don't know the guy.

Or maybe he just realized he needed to develop his game a little bit and played a little bit better down the stretch while changing almost nothing about his character.

A quote I heard from him this morning was "I did things the right way" - sounds to me more like Ends Justify The Means, Those Who Win The Wars Write The History than Redemption. Anything he said that might indicate accepting blame/evolving/getting it was probably lip service from the second it left said lips.

But I guess I could give a fuck what he says or what people wanna buy at this point so long as he just goes away for a while.

I'd say he and Tebow need to kill themselves in a repressed homosexual suicide pact a la Heathers, but then National Media would just lionize someone else, so nothing would change.

You can believe what LBJ has said or not, but he has openly and constantly accepted blame and called himself immature this week.

It could be bullshit.

Even that I did it the right way quote was him talking about how his situation was entirely unique in the history of the NBA, being what he was from age 16 on and what not and the difficulties he had. He was explaining all of that when the press was trying to trap him in the "Can you be Michael Jordan!!!!!" narrative with another bullshit question.

I have no idea if the guy is sincere or not, but for the first time he has openly and publically called out his prior behavior, on and off the court. He's admitted he struggled due to outside circumstances before, but this time he actually took ownership of how he reacted to those circumstances.

The LBJ that has spoken at the podium and to the press this week either found a damn smart PR coach or has really grown up.

e0y2e3 wrote:The LBJ that has spoken at the podium and to the press this week either found a damn smart PR coach or has really grown up.

Combination IMO.

Grown up on the court, realized how easy it is to get sideways in terms of public perception off of it and how much that costs literally and figuratively.

The spur of the moment stuff is real. Him waving off Chalmers' efforts to play to the fans was real. He demonstrated more 'real' leadership in words and in actions/game plan. Easier to stand up top and throw up the jumper than take the ball to the basket and create for yourself and others. That's also real.

Even some of the media shit seems like a guy who was burned and learned a bit.

But still a lot of bullshit in his words. Still a lot of misuse of 'humble' and 'humility' as I'm still pretty sure he doesn't know the definition much less the path.

Doesn't matter. He did what he did and in 95% of the world rational people will understand it and appreciate it for what it is/was. Like Hiko says, you can separate the man from the player.

peeker643 wrote:Him waving off Chalmers' efforts to play to the fans was ral.

That honestly was the thing that blew my mind the most. When LBJ was here and playing "kid" he let all of that bullshit dancing at the other team stuff go. He let the fake picture taking go on... he exhibited not even a shred of focus. Basketball was like a life escape, fun, easy, etc.

Then he went through his two year mental break-down.

Now he spends every game abusing Chalmers for fucking up. Now he refuses to let his team celebrate until the final whistle.... etc.

peeker643 wrote:Him waving off Chalmers' efforts to play to the fans was ral.

That honestly was the thing that blew my mind the most. When LBJ was here and playing "kid" he let all of that bullshit dancing at the other team stuff go. He let the fake picture taking go on... he exhibited not even a shred of focus. Basketball was like a life escape, fun, easy, etc.

Then he went through his two year mental break-down.

Now he spends every game abusing Chalmers for fucking up. Now he refuses to let his team celebrate until the final whistle.... etc.

That was a pretty damned telling moment.

I agree. And it wasn't a guy looking for the cameras to make sure they saw how 'determined' or 'engaged' or 'focused' he was. That was real, like I said. And to your point above, not only did he let it go here, he initiated most of it.

Which is fine. Immature and young guys will do that. My thought was that's who he'd always be in the NBA as careers are compressed into limited windows and time frames and he didn't HAVE to change to be one of the greatest.

peeker643 wrote:Him waving off Chalmers' efforts to play to the fans was ral.

That honestly was the thing that blew my mind the most. When LBJ was here and playing "kid" he let all of that bullshit dancing at the other team stuff go. He let the fake picture taking go on... he exhibited not even a shred of focus. Basketball was like a life escape, fun, easy, etc.

Then he went through his two year mental break-down.

Now he spends every game abusing Chalmers for fucking up. Now he refuses to let his team celebrate until the final whistle.... etc.

That was a pretty damned telling moment.

I agree. And it wasn't a guy looking for the cameras to make sure they saw how 'determined' or 'engaged' or 'focused' he was. That was real, like I said. And to your point above, not only did he let it go here, he initiated most of it.

Which is fine. Immature and young guys will do that. My thought was that's who he'd always be in the NBA as careers are compressed into limited windows and time frames and he didn't HAVE to change to be one of the greatest.

But he did. To whatever extent he did, it was enough.

Well, I'm glad he was able to do all this growing up in Miami. That poor town desperately deserved a champion.

peeker643 wrote:Him waving off Chalmers' efforts to play to the fans was ral.

That honestly was the thing that blew my mind the most. When LBJ was here and playing "kid" he let all of that bullshit dancing at the other team stuff go. He let the fake picture taking go on... he exhibited not even a shred of focus. Basketball was like a life escape, fun, easy, etc.

Then he went through his two year mental break-down.

Now he spends every game abusing Chalmers for fucking up. Now he refuses to let his team celebrate until the final whistle.... etc.

That was a pretty damned telling moment.

I agree. And it wasn't a guy looking for the cameras to make sure they saw how 'determined' or 'engaged' or 'focused' he was. That was real, like I said. And to your point above, not only did he let it go here, he initiated most of it.

Which is fine. Immature and young guys will do that. My thought was that's who he'd always be in the NBA as careers are compressed into limited windows and time frames and he didn't HAVE to change to be one of the greatest.

But he did. To whatever extent he did, it was enough.

It took until he was removed from the game to finally allow himself to crack a smile. We've wondered for years, since he was on the cover of SI, what would a consistent AND focused LBJ look like. The last month has shown us what we've been waiting for.

Quite a long way from dancing w/ Mo on the bench to Rick Astley

Galley Boys are slop on top of a so-so burger and a bun you coulde get from a Covneninet food mart generic pack. They the Antoine Joubert of burgers; soft, sloppy, oozing grease and cheap sauce and extremely overrated by a biased fan base. Proof that if you throw enough cheap sauce shit on a burger you still can't overcome the lame burger. -JB

The idea of "Redemption" for someone like the guy wearing no. 6 is laughable. He brought a good portion of the criticism upon himself with some of his actions. Redeemed for being a choke artist? You could argue that. But it hardly exempts from criticism from 2010 playoffs, the whole decision fiasco or any other number of things.

Will you start the thread when Akron announces their victory celebration for James at a facility TBNL? Maybe it'll happen on the same day the Steelers start mini camp just to throw you over the edge

Galley Boys are slop on top of a so-so burger and a bun you coulde get from a Covneninet food mart generic pack. They the Antoine Joubert of burgers; soft, sloppy, oozing grease and cheap sauce and extremely overrated by a biased fan base. Proof that if you throw enough cheap sauce shit on a burger you still can't overcome the lame burger. -JB

Larvell Blanks wrote:Will you start the thread when Akron announces their victory celebration for James at a facility TBNL? Maybe it'll happen on the same day the Steelers start mini camp just to throw you over the edge

Probably not.

Apathy is probably the better way to go about things now.

No changing what happened, nor how certain people act within the city of Akron. Dude can play it off anyway he wants, it ain't Akron's trophy.

Considering the fact that the three Aeros titles are treated with shrugged shoulders, I doubt he's getting thrown a victory parade or anything.

Swerb wrote:Go start a blog if you want to tell the world your incomprehendible ramblings.

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:I have a big arm and can throw the ball pretty damn far...... maybe even over those moutains. The Browns should sign me, i'll let you all in locker room to drink beer. Then we can all go out the parking lot to watch me do motorcycle stunts.

I can admit LeBron's season was impressive, and I didn't necessarily watch him night in and night out, few did I'd bet. But it is not hard to pick 4 or 5 seasons of MJs that are as or more impressive to be honest, in a tougher time among-st bigger badder men.

Too bad LeBron didn't figure things out sooner, he might have been able to have legendary numbers before he hits the wall.

Criminals in this town used to believe in things...honor, respect."I heard your dog is sick, so bought you this shovel"

I can admit LeBron's season was impressive, and I didn't necessarily watch him night in and night out, few did I'd bet. But it is not hard to pick 4 or 5 seasons of MJs that are as or more impressive to be honest, in a tougher time among-st bigger badder men.

Too bad LeBron didn't figure things out sooner, he might have been able to have legendary numbers before he hits the wall.

Not close to putting Lebron near Jordan all-time. Winning and money time and all that.

But in a tougher time among bigger badder men doesn't wash, especially when those bigger badder men weren't allowed to play zone, and you can't clear half the court anymore. I'm including Jordan's seasons when I speak of this season for Lebron. It was that good.

Less days off, answering the bell every night. Recognizing all those playoff minutes in the playoffs included many down low, getting banged and leaned on. Checking out the numbers of HOF players while Lebron was guarding them, at ANY position. The passes out of the double teams. Dragging Wade's carcass into game 6, on the road, world rooting against him, against the top defense in the league and just breaking wills.

You reference past years, and your comments in this thread reflect a personal dislike. Fine. I'm speaking ON THE COURT, THIS YEAR. The word isn't finally, or O.K. It was nothing short of brilliant. Remarkable.

Period.

Which is to my two entire points when this Lebron bullshit started

1. Don't let your personal feelings allow you to make a fool of yourself, like a zillion people including national writers etc. The whole "he'll never win it all" blah blah blah. A blind man could see and understand that a player this good wins in this league.

2. Rooting against him is a waste of time, because as referenced above, you can't win yourself with this take. Cause he's gonna win, probably more than once, and how much of a thrill did you all get when Dallas won last year? I wanted Dallas to win, but it gave me about 1/1000th of the feeling I'd get if the Cavs, Browns or Tribe won a title. Frankly, I could give two shits about Dallas, or OK State, or anyone else he plays save the Cavs. It's like making a bet you can't win. Pass.

Fair point about the zone D today. Don't forget that benefits offensive players too though, saves them tough match ups when they are on D, can save some energy depending on the opponent as well.

I think people in general like to exaggerate exactly what LeBron has had to deal with ON the court, as if players from the past rarely dealt with those same things. LeBron is built for abuse, hard not to see that. Off the court, probably way way more difficult today, no argument from me there.

I have the same problems and same proud achievements today as I did the day before LeBron won and the day after Dallas won. Most likely will when Browns win one too, just be more drunk and less clothed.

Criminals in this town used to believe in things...honor, respect."I heard your dog is sick, so bought you this shovel"